These are delegates and dignitaries arriving around 8 p.m. (9 Twin Cities time) at Pepsi Center, to see Hillary Clinton speak. I love the expression of the woman on the right. She just saw this…

It was a heck of a line to get through security. It didn’t seem to be moving very fast and I wasn’t certain people would get into the center in time to hear Clinton speak. But they did.

Where would this fit around Xcel Center? It feels to me as though the perimeters and various security zones are farther away from the arena than what’s planned for St. Paul, although I can’t prove it.

A bridge over a small river is where the delegate buses come in. I don’t know why there’s a tent over it. Perhaps there’s some secret scanning equipment in there they don’t want us to see. More likely: It’s really hot out in the sun.

Here’s where the traffic is detoured. I’d guess that if this were downtown St. Paul, this spot is about the same distance from the Pepsi Center as the MPR News Cut World Headquarters is from Xcel Energy Center.

On the other side of that spot, life goes on. People are out on the 16th Avenue mall (a much larger Nicollet Mall). Getting into restaurants is no problem.

There’s no way St. Paul competes with this shopping area, by the way. Plenty of shops, plenty of restaurants. Hamm’s Plaza is cute and all but one brew pub, a Jimmy John’s, a Walgreen’s and a closed movie house doesn’t cut it in the competition.

About the blogger

Bob Collins has been with Minnesota Public Radio since 1992, emigrating to Minnesota from Massachusetts where he was vice president of programming for Berkshire Broadcasting Company. Previously, he was an editor at the RKO Radio network in New York, and WHDH Radio in Boston. He is the founder of the MPR News’ website.